Family-of-five left with no hot water for eight months and basement flooded with sewage

A family-of-five living in temporary accommodation have been left without hot water since July last year.

Misha Hobby, who has four children in the two-bed hostel flat in Burnt Ash Road, Lewisham, said the family had been living without hot water since the summer and added the problem was made worse when the boiler room in her shared block was flooded with sewage in November.

Ms Hobby now says workers refuse to fix the boilers until the sewage is cleared.

She said: “If you live a hostel it’s like they don’t care about you.

“If anyone wants to wash we have to fill the bath up with water from saucepans and the kettle. It takes about an hour and we’re running back and forward to fill it up.”

The building is owned by a private landlord. Lewisham Homes, the housing arm of Lewisham council, rents the property for families on the housing list.

“It’s temporary accommodation but it’s not very temporary because I’ve been here for four years,” said Ms Hobby.

The block is also a “significant” fire risk, the mum claimed, as the machine for the building’s water sprinkler system is submerged under the sewage water in the basement. There are eight other flats in the block.

Ms Hobby also claimed that when it rained heavily the walls in her flat leak, which cause the flat’s fuse box to blow out and the family are left with no electricity “for hours until it dries out”.

Water also leaks through plug sockets in the wall.

Ms Hobby said that workers visited her home put scaffolding up and she hoped her problems would be fixed. But she claimed nobody ever came back, and the scaffolding was left up for a year.

“It’s really annoying,” Ms Hobby said. “I’m doing all this with four kids in two rooms. I’m sleeping in one room with my five-year-old twins, and my teenage son and daughter have to share a room.

“[The council] know what’s going on but won’t send anyone to fix it. This wouldn’t happen in somewhere like Bromley, only in Lewisham.”

A Lewisham council spokesman said: “There are a number of complex repair issues that are currently affecting this block, which is managed by Lewisham Homes.

“Lewisham Homes operatives have attended the property several times and major works are ongoing to resolve these issues. Lewisham Homes are in contact with the affected residents and we would like to apologise for the inconvenience that residents have faced while repair works are carried out.

“We would like to reassure residents that the property is equipped with a fully functioning fire alarm system and does not pose a fire risk. The sprinkler system was originally installed as an additional fire safety measure and is due to be repaired following the damage caused by flooding.”

Pictured top: Misha Hobby and the basement which has been flooded  since November last year (Picture: Misha Hobby)